He is looking terrible, I know it's Christmas Eve but I need help

 

Does he still have a good appetite? Do the white spots look like ich? I'd suggest doing a water change to see if it perks him up any.

I hope someone else will be along to help you further.

 

He's not even coming to the surface to eat. He looks really, really pale and sick.

I don't know what ich looks like. What is it?

 

Have tried looking up pictures and comparing them to him? I can't give you a very good description of ick, sorry, so you want to try that. If you can, a picture of him, especially of the spots, may also help.

 

I just scooped him out of the 10-gal and put him in a little cup. He ate a pellet.

Guys, his right ear looks like it's rotting away. It's white and fuzzy looking. He almost looks bloated around his gills, too.

 

Ear? You mean like his face? If he has cottony, fuzzy looking stuff on his face then I'd guess Columnaris. Take a look at this copied from the disease treatment thread and see how much it fits.

Columnaris
•Symptoms: White spots on mouth, edges of scales and fins, Cottony Growth that eats away at the mouth, Fins rapidly disingrate, starting at the edges
Gray areas around head and gills, As the disease progresses the gray lesions may change in color to yellow/brown/red, Lesions often occur in front of the dorsal causing a “saddleback” appearance, Lethargic, Loss of appetite, Clamped, Gasping for air
•Treatment: There are 2 versions of Columnaris: chronic and acute. Chronic Columnaris can take days to progress while acute can kill within a day. It is contagious so isolate sick fish. If more than one fish shows symptoms then treat the entire tank. Perform daily 100% water change in small tanks or ¾ water change in larger tanks. Make sure to clean the gravel. Treat with Aq.Salt: add 1 tsp/gal Aquarium Salt 3 times, 12 hours apart so that you end up with 3 times the normal concentration. Do NOT raise the temperature as it thrives in temps over 85*F, however, lowering the temperature does not seem to help fight it. Combine salt treatment with Mardel’s Coppersafe, Maracyn I & II, API Erythromycin, OR API Triple Sulfa, combined with Jungle’s Fungus Eliminator (if possible).

 

His side fin, the one next to his face. I thought those fins were called ears. One of the fins looks almost like it's missing. It's fuzzy and white. He is only using his other fin to swim.

I'm uploading pics now. I couldn't get one of the bad fin though, it just doesn't show up in pics.

 

You mean his pectoral fins? The ones that are on both sides of his body and move a lot, like paddles almost? Sorry, that's a really bad description, but it's the only thing I can think of at the moment. >.<

 

Pics.

His body is always kinda crooked when he swims lately.

I have him next to me in his little cup. He's swimming around and following my finger. He looks so horrible though.

 

Yes, the little paddles, lol.

 

lol, yeah, it was the only thing I could think of at the moment...

If there's cottony, or fuzzy stuff that's eating away at his fins, I'd treat for Columnaris. Is his fin like gone, or just covered? I'd also definitely separate him from the other fish and keep a close eye on them for signs as well. Columnaris is contagious.

 

Ok. I have a hospital 1-gallon tank set up, I'll put him in there.

Do I have to use aquarium salt or can I use regular sea salt? I don't have any aquarium salt and... well, tomorrow's Christmas.

100% water changes every day, for a 1-gallon tank. Add 1 tsp aquarium salt three times, 12 hours apart.

Is that right, that's what I should do?

 

I don't think sea salt is the same. I'm not 100% sure so you could ask in the regular section and see if someone there can confirm that, but I wouldn't risk using it because I'm pretty sure they are not the same. Since his fin has already deteriorated, do you have any medication on hand?

 

I don't have any medication or anything. I really, really should have put together a kit before all this happened. I feel terrible.

 

It's ok, I didn't have a kit when one of mine got sick a few months ago. That's when I realized that it's important to have stuff on hand for emergencies and to do your research about medications and what they treat. Until you can get a medication and salt, I'd do daily water changes.

You may also want to post in the normal section about substitutes for AQ salt. Now, I may be wrong, but I think there was another kind of salt that could be used, I don't think it was sea salt and I could be totally wrong but I figure it's worth a try anyway.

For the medication, seeing if you can find a Furan med or something like Triple Sulfa is what I suggest. As long as you're not allergic to sulfa meds, for the Triple Sulfa. I don't find them at my local PetCo, but I believe Petsmart has them. If you have any local fish shops, when they open, you can call and ask.

 

Thank you so much for all your help. I will ask about the salt.

 

If you can get to Walmart (Check to be sure they are open they normally are 24 hours) they sell Jungle fungus clear you can start treating with that. It helps with fin rot which your fish appears to have plus he has fungus. There are other drugs you can add but this is the basic one you can probably get started with now.

 

No problem! ^_^ I hope your little guy gets better. Please keep us updated.

jadaBlu has a very good point. You may be able to find a regular store that's open and has basic fish supplies. I got my AQ salt from WalMart.

 

Thank you so much. It's 1 AM now and I have to go to bed, so I will check Walmart tomorrow. Dragon seems to be hanging on, he seems a little calmer in the 1-gallon hospital.

Oh - quick question, there are two assassin snails in the hospital tank, is it OK to keep them in there or will they get sick too?

 

+1 on what Aquatail and jadaBlu have said.

Columnaris is a bacterial infection. Fin rot can also be caused by bacteria.

If you can't get any medications, you can try Sea salt. (Aquarium, Kosher, Sea, Rock, and non-iodized salt all have the same major ingredient: sodium chloride.)

Personally, I don't like these salts, since the sodium can lead to other issues, such as bloating or buoyancy issues. But Columnaris can be aggressive, so treating it is important.

Keep the water temperature at about 76F. This is at the lower end of the range for Bettas, but it will also keep the bacterial growth fairly low. Also, frequent water changes will help remove bacteria and toxins from the water.

Once the stores open, I suggest picking up one of the following: Jungle Fungus Clear, or API Furan 2, or Hikari Bifuran. These will treat the Columnaris, and should also work on the fin rot.

Not sure about the snails though, as I don't have any. I'd probably remove them, just in case. Also, if your tank has a filter, remove the media before adding medications.

 

P.S. Don't use Aquarium salt and medications at the same time.

As soon as you can get the medication (Jungle Fungus Clear, or API Furan 2, or Hikari Bifuran), do a full water change. Do not add any salt..... Then add the medication.

 

When did that happen, LittleBlueFishlets? I could be mistaken, but I think I've heard about combining the two a lot. Also the disease sticky recommends that as well for Columnaris. I'm not doubting you, but I'm wondering if that's a new thing I'm not aware of or if I've been wrong about using both the whole time?

 

Here's an incoherent explanation (which is what I get for being online at 2:25am!)

First, the effect on the body:

Most medications are metabolized by the liver and excreted by the kidneys. So they put some stress on these organs.....

Aquarium salt is high in sodium. This can cause fluid retention and bloating. The kidneys also remove excess sodium from the body, so the use of Aquarium salt places stress on them as well.

So combining both medications and Aquarium salt puts a lot of stress on the kidneys. For a healthy fish, this may be OK. But for a sick fish, the immune system is already fighting a battle, and the kidneys may not be able to handle the extra workload. When this happens, the fish can start to bloat or have buoyancy issues. In severe cases, it can even cause kidney failure. Plus, if the body is working to eliminate fluid, it has less reserves available to fight off infection.

Next, with regard to infections:

Aquarium salt has mild antimicrobial capabilities. So it's good for minor infections, etc. But at low dosages, it isn't effective at dealing with major problems. (At higher dosages, you're back to the issues of bloating and kidney stress.)

Antibiotics are much better able to target "bad bacteria." (They were developed to be effective against specific types of bacteria.) So if there's an aggressive infection (as Columnaris can become), then I opt to forego the Aquarium salt and use a true antibiotic instead.

Also, some medications cause less stress to the kidneys and liver than others. For example, Maracyn 2 (minocycline) is effective against Columnaris. But it tends to be harsher on the liver/kidneys than the furan medications. Also, minocycline has been around longer, so a lot of bacteria is now resistant to it. For these reasons, when Columnaris is suspected, I generally recommend the furan meds over minocycline.

That's my approach, anyway. Other people have different approaches.....

(I hope that made sense. I probably should have gone to sleep awhile back!)

 

That made complete sense, thank you for explaining so well! ^_^ Your posts always have a bunch of really good information for people like me who are learning about diseases and such! Would you mind if I track down some of your posts using the statistics page and take notes? I am also hoping that does not sound creepy or anything... If it does, I apologize...

 

I picked up Jungle "Lifeguard" all-in-one treatment. It says on the box that it's extremely effective against ick and fungus. Is this a good medication? I got it from Walmart, so... yeah.

I also picked up a bag of aquarium salt. Should I use that as well as the fungus stuff?

Also, I'm keeping up on daily 100% WCs, and Dragon is hanging in there. He looks terrible though.